Industry Sector: Movie Production

History:

Pre-history:

The motion picture industry could be said to have started with Edison’s invention of the kinetoscope, the first motion picture camera. The early 1900’s saw the beginnings of movie houses with the introduction of the nickelodeons. These were storefront theaters that exhibited short films. These early films were silent and often accompanied by in house orchestras. The silent film era was marked by director/producers like Cecile B. De Mille and Harold Lloyd and the grand sweeping melodrama.

The Golden Age:

This age covered the late silent film era of the 1920’s until the late 1940’s and is often called the ‘studio system’. Almost all films came from one of 5 major studios, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, Paramount, RKO Radio and Warner Brothers. Three other studios were emerging at this time: Columbia, Universal and United Artists. At this time actors, directors, stagehands and others involved in film production were contracted to a studio, giving all the control to the studio heads. This era was also characterized by the Production Code. This was a set of rules governing what could and could not be seen or discussed on film.

The Modern Age:

The rise of television was matched by the decline of the studios’ power. In order to compete with this new medium the film industry was forced to change. The “new Hollywood” is marked by big budget blockbusters as well as small independent productions. The 1950’s saw the formation of a Hollywood schism. The major studios had to start competing with small companies such as American-International who were working in the science fiction / shock film genre. These films were less about the films, which were often very bad, and more about the ideas presented in them. The fear of nuclear and/or communist attack colored the content of these early sci-fi films. This era is marked by a rapid growth in technological innovation including the invention of color film with the development of Technicolor, as well as new film formats like 70mm. The era is also marked by a rise in movie theater kitsch innovations like 3-D, smell-o-vision and seat tinglers.

A watershed moment in the history of film production is the 1970’s. The world was exposed to the blockbuster. A blockbuster was a film that came out of nowhere to break all records. It could be said that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg invented the blockbuster. After the releases of Stars Wars and Jaws studios started to expect each new movie to break the previous records. Making back cost and a modest profit was no longer enough. The blockbuster, combined with the rising power of the agent led the way to the state of today’s studios.

The Postmodern Age:

As smaller studios are bought by giant umbrella corporations a new type of studio has emerged. DVD, television and the internet have forced production houses to rethink strategies and expand their scope. The adoption of business models has changed the focus of the studios and their CEOs. Unlike the Golden Age, the major movie houses face competition from the DVD market, which allows small films to be released straight to the DVD market. There has also been a rise the import of foreign films. Imports like Hong Kong action and Bollywood productions have grown in popularity and have shifted the Hollywood studios’ content focus. Films that were previously relegated to the art house are now being seen by the megaplex audiences. The modern film studio can no longer afford to be single-ly focused on theatre releases alone. Additional revenue streams have been created in television production, both made for TV films and television shows. One of the biggest revenue avenues is tin the cross marketing of films. A movie can flop in the theatres, but make up the cost in the sales of DVDs, toys, breakfast cereals, clothes, et al. The focus of today’s studio is the search for the tentpole picture which is “an industry slang or trendy buzzword term, meaning a film that is expected to serve as a primary support for a studio, i.e., to be a top-grossing blockbuster (usually during the summer season), to compensate for a studio's other flops; usually the film is the start of, or an installment in, a franchise” (Dirks). The tentpole picture has become supreme in a studio’s annual revenues; and yet even the tentpole picture has become main stream. Studios are looking to each film they release to be the next great tentpole.

Social, political, governmental factors influenced:

In the era of the studio system productions were governed by the Production Code, also known as the Hayes Code. This Code regulated what was acceptable for films in terms of sexual and violent content.

The 1950’s were heavily influenced by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) led by Joseph McCarthy, Black Listing, and the ‘Red Scare’. The McCarthy hearings resulted in a large number of actors, directors, and other movie production employees being unable to find work anywhere in the industry, as well a personal alienation; being labeled as a communist. In spite of the rampart fear and suspicion that characterized this era a number of influential films were created in the time.

In the 1960’s the Production Code was abandoned in favor of the Motion Picture Code and Rating Program, which rated films, based on content, as G, PG, PG-13, R, X, or since 1990, NC-17.

In the 1980’s the industry returned to governing itself. The Writers Guild went on strike in 1988 over failed labor negotiations; and the Film Preservation Act was passed in 1989 to counteract the destruction of significant films. The Act may have been passed in response to Ted Turner’s controversial practice of colorization. Studios started restricting what a director could put on film. As a way to protect revenues studios began producing films for the teenage demographic, banking on their disposable income to bolster the rest of the market.

In the modern era, has seen a loosening of self imposed restraint. The previous decade focused its attention to the teenage demographic; now their attention has turned back to the adult demographic. There are groups such as Focus on Family, who release ‘family friendly’ versions of films, and are currently involved in litigation with major movie studios, which seek to restrict the industry’s products. The studios are fighting back, and as of yet, the government has not stepped in to regulate this new form of copyright infringement.

Key entities/largest players:

Parent Companies:

The major studios are generally owned by a parent company that generally has no artistic connection to the film industry. For example, the Time Warner Company owns Warner Bros. studio, Castle Rock Entertainment, Fine Line Features, New Line Cinema, and five other production houses. It is almost impossible to find a studio that does not have some connection to a major company. Even if a film is independently produced a company will have to be contracted to distribute the film.

Studio Heads:

In the past studio heads where immutable. Today their actions are governed by both parent companies and the shareholders, making their positions far less permanent, but no less powerful.

How long have they held positions of influence?

Golden Era studio heads:

“The same creative teams often worked on films made by the same studio - for instance, Cedric Gibbons and Herbert Stothart always worked on MGM films, Alfred Newman worked at Twentieth Century Fox for twenty years, Cecil B. De Mille's films were almost all made at Paramount, director Henry King's films were mostly made for Twentieth-Century Fox, etc.” (Wikipedia.com).

Modern studio heads:

Today’s studio heads often stay with a studio only as long as they continue to produce revenue creating products. Current studio heads include: Sir Howard Stringer CEO and Chairman of Sony, Rupert Murdock CEO of News Corp which includes 20th Century Fox, and Robert Iger President and CEO of Walt Disney Pictures. It is likely that today’s head will not be tomorrow’s.

Current social, political, governmental influences:

Like McCarthy in the 1950’s the late 20th / early 21st centuries have seen resurgence in misgivings of the movie industry. Groups like Focus on Family seek to impose restriction on film not unlike the Production Codes that ruled over cinema’s Golden Age.

Predictions for change in next 5-10 years:

If history has taught us anything it is that the human sprit will prevail. Regardless of the roadblocks that may pop up films will continue to both inspire and mimic life. Within the industry there seems to be a consensus that regardless of the viewing format people will always enjoy films. The studios and the industry will continue to change with societal and technological trends. The future will see a different style in production but there will always be people who are driven to create and people who are driven to view. This optimistic hope for the future of films is contradicted by some disturbing trends in recent history. The last few years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of remakes of older films. In fact, the window between the original and the remake is getting shockingly short. There has also been an alarming drop in the number of critically and commercially successful films. There seems to be no relief for the lack of truly original films in sight. But this too is nothing new. The history of film has always seen stagnation in the status quo right before a watershed moment that breaks a new era in film. The continual infusion of talent, bolstered by new technology, will continue to evolve the movie picture industry.

Works Cited

Cinema of the United States. (nd). Amswers.com. Retrieved June 30, 2006, from http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=1f3pucck4ppv3?tname=cinema-of-the-united-states&sbid=lc07b

Motion pictures. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05. Retrieved June 30, 2006, from http://www.bartleby.com/65/mo/mopicts.html

Motion picture, history of the. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 1, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-52164

Dirks, T. (nd). Film History of the 1950’s. Retrieved July 12, 2006, from http://www.filmsite.org/50sintro.html.